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Sybil Connolly and CREATE Irish Designers at Brown Thomas

Thursday, 29 August 2013

Hello lovelies!So on Tuesday the 27th Brown Thomas decided to get the ball rolling on the run up to Dublin Fashion Festival ( September 5th-8th!) with a exhibit on celebrated Irish designer Sybil Connolly and also hosted the event CREATE which showcased 13 up and coming Irish designers.Sybil Connolly on the24th January 1921 and was brought up in County Waterford. At 17 she moved to London to pursue her interests in fashion and studied as a dress maker at Bradley & Co. During her career Connolly worked with Tiffany &Co., Tipperary Crystal, Brunschwig & Fils, and Schumacher and even the glamorous first wife Jacqueline Kennedy wore a Sybil Connolly creation when she sat for her official White House portrait.

The exhibit was brilliant with the chance to get up close and personal with some of Connolly's beautiful creations.

The woman herself, Sybil Connolly.

A sketch book of some designs.

As if that wasn't enough Brown Thomas added to this celebration of Ireland's fashion history with a celebration of Ireland's fashion future. CREATE consisted of 13 top Irish designers who have been granted a precious month of floor space on the 1st level of the Brown Thomas Dublin store.

I chose a few of my favourite collections to photograph and share with you.Let's start off with KDK Sisters founded by sisters Dairine and Keira Kennedy. This is a luxury cashmere scarf collection inspired by the Iirsh wilderness and floral tones. I especially loved the bold use of colors used in patterns that brought about an earthly aesthetic.

Willow & Clo is a hand crafted jewellery line established by Chloe Townsend,a goldsmith who works with semi-precious stones and metals to create stunning ethereal pieces.

Dorai was created by Maria Dorai Raj who based her jewellery collection on minimalism and balanced clean lines. These pieces are beautifully contemporary but also so simple and effortlessly classic.

Lisa Ryder showed off her 100% vegan leather goods collection with a strong emphasis on a both creative and wearable line, something that can be hard to achieve for a lot of designers and can be a cause for their down fall.

Not a big hat fan myself personally I was very impressed by Martha Lynn's modern and youthful collection, particularly the use of brilliant pink and structured lines. I guess she learned from the best after working with millinery legends Philip Treacy and Stephen Jones.

There is something very distinct and original about Irish fashion and design which is why I was seriously excited to check out this event and learn more about our national fashion talent. Serious props to Brown Thomas for supporting Irish design talent.